RANDOLPH – If elected governor this year, Attorney General Martha Coakley said she would tackle an array of problems facing the state – from rising healthcare costs to the recent child welfare scandal to homelessness – by attacking their root causes.

“The sooner you see something and address it, the better result you get and the less it costs,” she said.

Coakley, a Democratic candidate for governor, spoke Wednesday to members of the South Shore Chamber of Commerce gathered for lunch at The Lantana in Randolph.

She laid out her political platform, focusing on education, health care and economic development, and took questions from a Patriot Ledger reporter.

Coakley said a decision will be reached within two months on the proposed merger between South Shore Hospital and Partners HealthCare, currently under final review by her office.

“We want to make sure that if the merger is approved, that consumers and the health care market will not see any appreciable increase in the cost involved in health care,” she said.

Coakley pledged to foster “prosperous and fair” relationships between state agencies and local government and business partners if elected.

She said that economic turnaround signs are emerging “but not everywhere,” that Massachusetts students are “woefully behind” on skills like computer science, and “smart growth” will provide residents affordable homes near cities.

Locally, Coakley said she would encourage public-private partnerships like those faltering in Quincy Center and SouthField, and promised to help local officials capitalize on federal funding and push through red tape at the state level.

Addressing the ongoing scandal at the Department of Children & Families, Coakley said agency workers lack modern tracking tools and have too many cases but too little training and supervision.

The DCF commissioner resigned this week after a 5-year-old Fitchburg boy whose family was under agency supervision was found dead.

Coakley said she would establish a team within DCF focusing solely on child safety.

“It’s not organized all that properly and it has to change,” she said.

Coakley also called for heightened scrutiny of medical marijuana dispensaries, said she supports efforts to reform unemployment insurance without cutting worker benefits, and joked that something needs to be done about Route 3, where private toll lanes have been proposed.

“In Massachusetts we don’t need Chris Christie,” Coakley said, referring to the New Jersey governor battling accusations he shut down lanes on the George Washington Bridge for political retribution.

“We can create our own traffic jams all on our own,” she said.

Page 2 of 2 - Joseph Markman may be reached at jmarkman@enterprisenews.com.